Ionizing type air cleaners of the type addressed by the invention consist of a charge source, which may be in the form of negatively charged ionizing needles and a positively charged collector located near the needles.
Customarily, the collector is a good conductor of electricity and presents a large surface to the surrounding air. The ionizing needles emit electrons which negatively charge the surrounding air molecules and dust particles contained therein. The negatively charged dust particles are then attracted to the positively charged collector where they are collected. The voltages involved in these ionizing air cleaners are of the order of 10-20 kilovolts.
There is a drawback in the present type of air cleaners in that their collectors operate at relatively high voltages and have enough electrical capacitance due to their large size, to store sufficient charge to cause an electric shock to anyone that touches them. This condition occurs even if the collectors are isolated from the power supply by high resistances.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ionizing type air cleaner which does not have the above described drawback and without sacrificing the air cleaner's performance.
The invention in its general form will first be described, and then its implementation in terms of specific embodiments will be detailed with reference to the drawings following hereafter. These embodiments are intended to demonstrate the principle of the invention, and the manner of its implementation. The invention in its broadest and more specific forms will then be further described, and defined, in each of the individual claims which conclude this Specification.